The Night She Came Knocking
by dancingdreamers
Summary: Brittany and Santana have been friends from pre school. Will it turn into something more when tragedy hits the duo? R&R. Angsty!
1. The Beginning of Forever

Hey guys! So this is going to be an angsty-Brittana story, so buckle your seatbelts! The first couple chapters will deal with the Brittana friendship in stages, then we'll get into the real drama! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

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><p>Brittany Pierce was a loud five year old. A loud, loud five year old. There was no wall between her brain and her mouth, and if Brittany felt or thought anything, anyone near her would know about it. This being said, it was no surprise that on the first day of school, Brittany was the one who volunteered to go first. Scrambling up from her spot in the circle, she dashed across the alphabet rug to stand next to the teacher's chair. Tripping over the chair leg as she went by, she felt the ground move out from under her, only to be caught by a pair of hands.<br>"Not so fast okay?" Came the teachers cool voice. The little blonde nodded, not letting that phase her excitement as she faced the circle of students that was her kindergarten class.  
>"HI!" She said happily, her cheeks rosy, her smile big. She held up one hand and waved it to the class as she spoke. "I'm Brittany. I'm five years old and I have a cat. His name is Lord Tubbington. You know, like the Lord who saves the princess from the bad guys?" She babbled. "He likes cheese so sometimes I drop a piece of my grilled cheese on the floor when Mom isn't looking. He likes green too. My green pillow is his favorite to sleep on. I like green too, only that's not my favorite color. I like orange. It's loud. My Mom tells me I'm loud" She said, only stopping when the teacher held up her hand. Brittany closed her mouth, and the class erupted into giggles, making Brittany laugh herself. Any other kid would've pouted, complaining that the class laughed at them, but not Brittany. She was only too happy to put a smile on someone's face, and even happier to laugh with her class. Her teacher was about to scold the class, glancing over with the expectation of a pouting child, but met with laughter instead. Chuckling, she motioned to the letter U, Brittany's former seat across the oval letter rug.<br>"Very nice to hear about you and your cat Brittany" She nodded her approval, watching the little blonde skip across the rug from where the teacher's chair was, in front of letter E. Brittany beamed at her again when she sat down, next to a little Latina, sitting on the letter T. When the little girl got up, Brittany's eyes followed her up to the front of her room.  
>"She's pretty" Brittany thought to herself, watching the girl flip her waist length black hair behind her shoulder before clearing her throat.<br>"I'm Santana. Santana Lopez. I'm 5, like Brittany, but I don't have a cat. I don't have any pets." She said, rocking back from her heels to her toes, looking at the teacher, as if for some form of instruction. The teacher, in return, raised her eyebrows.  
>"Don't you want to say a little more?" The teacher prompted, "what about your family? Something about that?" Santana shook her head in a silent rejection.<br>"Nahh." She shrugged before walking to her letter, turning a little to raise her eyebrows at Brittany, who was staring at her, smiling vapidly. Blinking, the little Latina moved a little to the right, closer to the boy sitting on S, whatever his name was. She resisted the urge to snicker at the markered-on 'tattoos' along his bicep.

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><p>Brittany didn't remember half the kids names after they got up from circle time, but she knew one. Santana. Santana with the long hair. The next time she found her was on the playground, swinging on the swings with another blonde girl. Brittany smiled. She knew the blonde girl, Quinn. They were in the same gymnastics class and went to cheer camp together last summer. Brittany hadn't even remembered seeing her in circle time or hearing her introduce herself, but she shrugged it off. Brittany never cared much for remembering stuff. She just wanted to have fun.<br>Skipping over to the swing sets, she raised her eyebrows. Santana and Quinn were swinging high in the sky. So high that Brittany had to tip her head back and shield her eyes from the sun. She watched them for a minute, a hopeful smile on her face before she stepped forward, asking cheerily. "Hey Santana! Can you teach me how to swing so hi-" She was interuptted by a shriekd from Santana.  
>"Brittany MOVE!" The Latina called, trying to brace her shoes on the ground so the swing would stop. Her little legs were no where near the ground, though, and she flew right into Brittany, both of them landing in a heap in the wood chips, Santana on top of the blonde.<br>"I'm so sorry Brittany!" She said, scrambling up. Brittany sat up, and when she made sure she hadn't hurt anything, she smiled up at Santana.  
>"That's okay! I'm not hurt!" She said, taking the hand offered by Santana and standing up.<br>"Are you guys okay?" Quinn asked, jumping off her swing, smiling when both girls nodded. "I thought Santana was gonna knock your head off Britt!" She exclaimed, making both girls erupt into giggles.  
>They were still giggling when the teacher rang the bell to line the class up to go inside. Brittany and Santana were one of the last pairs on line, Quinn was lost up in the front somewhere with a girl she knew from Church. Santana chatted with Brittany animatedly during the walk to the line, but when two boys lined up behind them, the Latina was quiet and turned to face the teacher. Brittany opened her mouth to ask what happened, when she was cut off by one of the boys.<br>"Oh look who it is" Azimio sneered, nudging the other boy. "It's the little poor girl." The blonde frowned, first thinking that they were talking about her, but when she glanced toward Santana, she knew that wasn't the case.  
>"I saw her daddy looking through the dumpsters for food." The other replied. "I bet they eat food from their neighbors garbage." He said, his friend only too happy to agree.<br>"And look at that dress. I bet it's the only one she owns." They teased, causing Brittany's eyes to slide down to look at the faded green dress Santana wore. Look back to Santana's face, Brittany frowned. She wasn't returning Brittany's gaze-she refused to look any place but forward- but the blonde could see the unshed tears in her eyes. Spinning on her heel, she crossed her arms in front of her Little Mermaid tee shirt and said firmly, "Hey." This caught the boys attention, and so she continued. "shut up Karfofskly. You know I think that Santana has the prettiest dress ever." She said, "I wish I had a dress like that. I bet you boys do too. That's why you're so mean. You're just jealous because Santana has a pretty dress on today. I bet she has lots of them too." The blonde nodded. She waited for the boys' reply, but they just stared, dumbfounded. Brittany smiled, happy with herself, and turned around again, not looking back at the boys for the rest of the walk back to the classroom. Glancing at Santana, she caught the girl wiping her eyes, a smile replacing her pout. This made Brittany smile too, because she loved making people happy. Reaching over to grab Santana's hand for the remainder of the walk, she leaned and whispered in Santana's ear, "Let's be best friends." Santana didn't reply, but instead squeezed Brittany's hand. And Brittany knew that meant_ yes._


	2. Santana Sleeps Over

That first day in kindergarten, Brittany barely knew anything about Santana's family. By the time they hit fifth grade, not much had changed. When Brittany's birthday came round in August before third grade, she called Santana's house, wanting nothing more then to have Santana sleepover on her birthday. Throughout the years, the two had become fiercely dependent on each other, even as young children. In first grade, they'd been in separate classes, but during lunch Santana always sat with Brittany's class, and after school they made a habit of meeting each other at the third tree on the left when school let out before walking hand in hand. In Art, Santana drew pictures for Brittany and Brittany drew some for Santana, and the next morning they would secretly stash them in the other's backpack, a happy surprise when it came time to unpack for the day. In second grade, they had been fortunate enough to have the same teacher, which had only brought them even closer.  
>"Hello?" Brittany heard on the other line in a funny voice. She wrinkled her nose but said. "Can I talk to Santana Lopez? This is her bestest friend ever, Brittany." She heard a chuckle.<br>"Ahh, Brittany, Santana's told me about you. You're the one who draws all those pictures for her?" The woman asked, and Brittany nodded cheerily, before remembering the lady couldn't see her.  
>"Yeah I do! And she draws 'em for me too! I have 'em all hung up on the inside of my door! There's almost no space left!" She beamed.<br>"That's very nice to hear, hold on, I'll get Santana." The woman said, and Brittany faintly heard a voice call, "Mija? Your friend Brittany is on the phone. Not to long now, we don't want to raise the bill." Brittany wrinkled her nose for the second time during that call, and when Santana answered the phone she asked, "Sanny, why does your mom call you mirror?" Santana didn't answer, but after a pause she laughed.  
>"My mama doesn't call me mirror Brittany, she called me mija. That means daughter in Spanish!" Santana said.<br>"But why didn't your mom speak English?" She asked in typical Brittany form. Another giggle from Santana.  
>"Well, because she's Spanish. My mom and dad are Spanish Brittany, me too." Santana explained.<br>"oh. well. cool. Wanna sleepover tonight?" She asked.  
>"Britts, I don't think I can." Santana replied softly. Crestfallen, Brittany continued the conversation on for just a little longer before claiming Lord Tubbington was trying to crawl out the window and she had to go save him.<p>

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><p>In sixth grade though, Santana was granted permission to spend the night at Brittany's house, and both of them were overjoyed. Santana had explained to her that she hardly ever saw her dad because of his work, she only saw him at night when he came home, so she couldn't sleepover often because she'd miss the chance to see him. Brittany understood completely. She knew Santana's dad worked as a secretary at a big insurance company in Ohio, Karofsky and Marks. Both of the men's son's were in Brittany's grade, Dave and Azimio. Obviously both men were very, very proud of their accomplishments, because both boys came to school each day with something knew to brag about. Brittany didn't know what a secretary did but she knew it wasn't as good as owning an insurance company because of the hell they put Santana through due to her father's position in the office. Each time she ignored it, her head held high, her eyes glassy with tears she'd never let fall. In the 6 years they'd been friends, Brittany had never seen her best friend cry. Her eyes had filled on many occasions, but never once did a drop fall. All that changed at Brittany's sleepover.<p>

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><p>Brittany invited Santana over at 7:00, enough time to get home from school and pack up and everything. That entire day, both girls chatted animatedly about what they would do and all the fun they would have. As usual, they both ignored Karofsky and Azimio's jeers at Santana, even though they seemed particularly harsh that day. Sitting side by side on the bus home, they ducked the paper balls the boys threw their way, determined not to let anything ruin the excitement.<br>"I'll see you soon!" Brittany smiled as the bus pulled to her stop. Standing in her driveway, she waved at Santana through the window until the bus vanished from view, rumbling toward Lima Heights Adjacent, Santana's part of town. After the bus vanished over the hill, Brittany turned, dashing into the quaint brick house.  
>"MOM?" She called, dropping her bag and slipping her shoes off in the entryway. Mrs. Pierce poked her head out of the kitchen.<br>"Right here dear. do you want to order a pizza with Santana later or should I cook something?" She asked. Brittany smiled. Her mom remembered Santana was coming over.  
>"Pizza is fine!" She smiled, creeping into the kitchen when she smelt cookies. Zipping forward, she snatched a chocolate chip cookie off the cooling rack and dashed out before she could be trapped by her mother's soft arms.<p>

"You better watch it!" Her mother called after her, but she could hear the laughter that followed. Giggling, she pushed the door open to her room, flopping down on her white bed spread with orange piping. Brittany's wall's were painted a light orange color. Throughout the years, her favorite color was yet to change. Her white desk was pushed up against one wall, a dresser next to that. Brittany's white wood full sized bed was pushed to the opposite wall. The wood floor in the center of the room was covered with an orange and white circle rug. The shelves on the wall were lined with photos and trophies. Lima didn't have cheer team for the peewee teams, but every year she went to gymnastics, the trophies a direct result of their team's success. Some of the pictures between the trophies were from gymnastics. She and Quinn, arms around eachother, hair pulled back, both in matching sports bras and spandex shorts when they were 8. One of her on the balance beam at a competition, some other ones of she and Quinn goofing around or group photos. The rest were of Santana and Brittany. In the town pool, eating ice cream together, standing next to each other on the first day of second grade, Brittany missing her two front teeth. Brittany smiled at that picture, giggling.

Turning her head, her eyes fell on her closet door, full of Santana's drawings. Starting from the bottom, scribbled pictures when Santana could barely right her own name, to the top, where the scribbles took on shapes and words and hearts. Over time, Brittany's closet door had gotten too small for their growing friendship, and so Santana's most recent pictures spilled over on to the wall.

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><p>Brittany sighed, taking a deep breath before sprinting a few steps into a front handspring back tuck, landing right into the foam pit. As she climbed out, she couldn't resist looking at the clock, realizing then how slow it moved. It read, 4:45PM and she frowned, tucking a loose strand of blonde behind her ear. Her gymnastics class was just halfway over. All Brittany wanted to do was get home and wait for Santana. Her classes always seemed to fly by but today, it seemed like she'd been in the gym for an eternity. Her heart just wasn't in it. She'd nearly fallen off the balance beam numerous times. Climbing back on it again, Quinn on the parallel beam next to hers, she took a few steps into a cartwheel, executing a back flip to dismount.<br>"You okay Britt?" Quinn asked, coming to stretch next to her on the mat.  
>"Santana's coming over to sleepover later, I never realized how long these lessons are." She all but whined, making Quinn giggle.<br>

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><br>When practice was over, Brittany couldn't get her shoes and jacket on fast enough. She nearly tripped over herself as she waved to her coach before turning and dashing to her mother's van.  
>"Where's the fire?" Her mother asked with a laugh, to which Brittany just shook her head.<br>"Come on mom" She whined. "Santana's coming soon." She said, trying not to fidget as her mother began to drive. It was no use though. She shuffled her feet and ran her fingers through her hair relentlessly. At every red light, she grumbled and complained until the point that Mrs. Pierce offered to give Brittany the house keys and let her walk home if the car was so slow. That quieted her, but inside, she silently counted the minutes, even though it was only 5:45 and she had an hour and a half before Santana would come over.  
>The second Mrs. Pierce opened the door, Brittany flew up the stairs like a bullet, abandoning her gymnastics bag at her bedroom door.<br>_ "That gymnastics practice lasted way too long_" She thought to herself, already feeling the soreness in her calves. Lazily, she riffled through her drawers, carrying her clean clothes to the bathroom. Gently pulling the elastic off the ends of her braids, she combed out the tight french braids, necessary to keep her long hair out of her face and prevent strands from falling free.  
>She showered quick, letting the hot water pound onto her tired muscles. Changing into plain black jazz pants and her favorite tee shirt that read, "what's up?" With a giraffe on it. She didn't bother to anything to her hair, she knew it would just fall straight anyway. After dumping her clothes in the hamper, her eyes floated to the clock. It read 6:48PM. She smiled, hearing the doorbell ring.<br>"_She's early_" She thought.


End file.
